LITMIR.BIZ

       6 A.M.

      Kat drove to the county morgue accompanied only by the Crown Vic’s radio and a sack of bones in the backseat. All the state troopers, Lieutenant Tony Vasquez included, stayed behind at the museum to work the homicide investigation. That meant Kat was alone on bone duty, an assignment that, while interesting, wasn’t quite as vital as trying to identify a killer. She thought of it as desk duty—mere busywork to keep her from bothering the big boys.

      She didn’t mind. Much. Naturally, she wanted to be where the action was, but at least this way she could size up Nick’s girlfriend without anyone else present.

      On the way to the morgue, Kat swore she wouldn’t make any snap judgments about Lucy Meade, pro or con. Nick was a grown man who could make his own decisions about who he wanted to date. Or sleep with. Or whatever he and Lucy were doing. Kat’s main priority was to learn as much as possible about the skeleton found in the museum.

      Still, she couldn’t help keeping a mental checklist, especially when Lucy arrived right on time, pulling up to the morgue in a red Volkswagen Beetle. It was a vintage one, still in prime condition. That was definitely a mark in the plus column, with an extra point for punctuality.

      When Lucy got out of the car, Kat was surprised by what she saw. Lucy looked to be a good ten years younger than Nick, with bright blue eyes and shoulder-length auburn hair that she tucked behind her ears before shaking Kat’s hand. Petty jealousy usually dictated that youth and beauty went into Kat’s minus column, but she stayed neutral this time. It was easy to see why Nick was attracted to her. Lucy was stunning.

      “So you’re the famous Kat Campbell,” she said with a grin. “I’m so happy I finally get to meet you. Nick talks about you nonstop.”

      “All good things, I hope.”

      “All great things.”

      Flattery. Straight to the plus column every time.

      “He even told me how you like your coffee.” Lucy reached across the front seat of her Beetle, emerging with a giant thermos. “Black and strong, right?”

      This was a tough one. Under any other circumstance, bringing coffee earned a place in the plus column. But Kat had practically a whole pot of java sloshing around in her stomach, and while the caffeine kept her mind alert, it wasn’t sitting well with the rest of her body. Still, it was the thought that counted. Another plus.

      Lucy must have seen the uncertain look on her face because she said, “You just had some, didn’t you? Considering the hour, I should have known.”

      “No, it’s fine,” Kat said. “I just should have had some food with it, I think.”

      Lucy reached deep into the car again, this time returning with a flat box tied shut with some string. “Then it’s a good thing I also brought doughnuts.”

      That was the moment Kat gave up trying to keep score. Lucy had passed with flying colors.

      “So, these bones were found in the history museum?” she asked Kat once they entered the morgue.

      “In a crawl space under the floorboards. They were in a trunk that a murder victim was found on top of.”

      “Any indication that the victim knew they were there?”

      “Not that I know of,” Kat said. “Our theory is that the body was put there by whoever killed her.”

      “So these bones might not have anything to do with the murder.”

      “Or they might be the key to solving it.”

      Kat took the bag of bones to the morgue’s second autopsy suite, the first one being presently occupied by Wallace Noble and the body of Constance Bishop. Inside, she dumped the bones onto a stainless steel table in the center of the room.

      Lucy grabbed a white lab coat and some latex gloves, putting them on before approaching the table. “Is this everything that was found in the trunk?”

      “The whole shebang,” Kat said.

      “Well, right off the bat, I can tell that these are some old bones.” Lucy started sliding them around the table, putting them in order from top to bottom. “I already see some bone rot.”

      “Do you think you’ll be able to tell how old they are?”

      “Possibly. Nothing exact, mind you. Maybe a ballpark figure.”

      “That’s better than nothing.”

      Kat retreated to a corner of the autopsy suite and grabbed a doughnut, munching on it while she watched Lucy work. For her part, Lucy was all business as she studied the bones. She arranged them slowly and methodically, occasionally pausing to give one a closer inspection.

      “These are pretty well preserved,” she said, picking up a hand with fingers permanently splayed. She examined the back of the hand, then the palm, then the back again, swiveling it in a kind of morbid wave. “And while I can already tell this isn’t a complete skeleton, there’s a lot less scatter than I thought there’d be.”

      “Scatter?”

      “A body left out in the open never stays in one piece for very long. Animals usually come along quickly, taking bones with them. A corpse left in a forest could be scattered for miles within two weeks.”

      Although she’d taken only two bites of her doughnut, Kat returned it to the box and closed the lid. Hearing about scattered bodies made her no longer hungry. “Since that didn’t happen in this case, then it means the body was buried.”

      Lucy looked up from the table, a flash of approval in her blue eyes. “Nick told me you were a quick study.”

      “Thanks, but I had help,” Kat said. “We found dirt with the bones.”

      “How did it smell?”

      “Pardon?”

      “The dirt. Did it smell fresh?”

      “A little bit. Not as overpowering as a freshly plowed field, but close enough.”

      Holding the skull to her nose, Lucy sniffed deeply. “I see what you mean. That smell doesn’t come from the dirt itself. It comes from microbes that are in the dirt, which die off and fade away.”

      “So

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